Electoral College Function

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For hundreds of years, we have used the electoral vote rather than the popular vote when we have had to select a president and vice president. In this essay, we will be examining the structure and function of the Electoral College, comparing the Electoral College to the popular vote and assessing the value of the individual citizen’s vote under the Electoral College system.
The Electoral College was created in 1787. The reason, the Electoral College was created, was to give the power of electing a president to the states and not to the people themselves. “The men who drafted the Constitution debated several formats for electing the president and vice president -- having Congress vote, having the state legislatures choose, using a direct popular …show more content…
They are Electoral College and the popular vote. The popular vote can directly affect electoral votes and one candidate can win with both forms of the presidential vote. Unfortunately, even if a presidential candidate wins the popular vote (Al Gore), they can lose the electoral vote. In the 2000 presidential election the Republican candidate (George Bush) received more votes from the Electoral College than did the Democratic candidate (Al Gore) which helped George Bush to win the election. Some comparisons of the Electoral College and the popular vote are: the Electoral College requires formation of some form of committee, college, or council to vote after they 've been elected whereas the popular vote does not require the formation of such groups. Also, in the Electoral College, it is mandatory for regional delegates to run for given district 's delegate locations via their party or individually while the popular vote it is not mandatory and is not required. (Diffen, …show more content…
Each state is able to pick their electors, but do not have the final vote to elect a president. The chosen electors are then the ones who choose the president for us. Choosing electors for the Electoral College does vary from state to state. If the United State wanted to get rid of the Electoral vote it would most likely require a constitutional amendment. It would be a difficult goal to achieve as it would require approval by 2/3 majorities of both houses of Congress and also by the legislatures in 3/4 of the states.
Choosing a president and vice-president is a very important decision. It is one that is left up to the Electoral College and not the popular vote. This paper discussed the structure and functions of the electoral election, compared the Electoral College to popular vote and assessed the value of an individual citizen’s vote under the Electoral College. It seems that most people may be on the fence about keeping the Electoral College, but it would be a difficult process to amend these

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